Digital Trends

HP w22 March 8th, 2007 | by Ian Bell

Testing and Use

Getting the w22 up and running was pretty simple, as it should be with analog VGA the only option out of the box. Plug the monitor in, hit the auto button and you are good to go. At first run, the w22’s colors were really washed out. We had to tweak the color and brightness settings using both the on-screen display (OSD) and our video card software settings. The onscreen menu is easy to navigate and looks for the most part like the same menu seen on other HP monitors.

During our video game tests, the w22 showed limited ghosting and trailing thanks to its 5ms response rate, but colors just did not look as deep and rich as they should have. Black levels during movie playback looked washed out at times, and if you tweaked the settings to get the black levels to reasonable levels, colors started to look too dark; it was difficult to find common ground. In comparison to HP’s f2105 monitor whom we reviewed a while back, the w22 really has trouble standing on its own two feet. The f2105 is a better looking monitor, has a higher contrast ratio (900:1), albeit a slower response rate, attached speakers including a headphone jack, and can even double as an HDTV monitor capable of 1080i and 720p resolutions. And although the f2105 has been out for a while, its price has dropped to within the same range as the w22 and would make a better monitor.

Conclusion

Unless you get the w22 as part of a complete computer package, this is one monitor you are going to want to avoid spending money on. The quality of the bezel and stand feel cheap and flimsy, and the picture quality is mediocre at best. We do like that the monitor comes with integrated speakers, but the lack of any USB ports is not forgivable, it should have been a given in any consumer monitor nowadays. It’s also inexcusable that HP left out a DVI cable – what were they thinking? If you are stuck on getting an HP monitor, we would recommend the aging f2105 which you can find for under $400 U.S. or wait a month or two for HP to release their new consumer monitor line-up. Otherwise, we would recommend the award winning Gateway FPD2275W 22” widescreen monitor – arguably the best monitor of this size out there.

Pros:

• Built-in speakers
• Aesthetically pleasing



Cons:

• Cannot swivel or adjust height
• The volume controls double as menu controls
• Base is wobbly
• Only one DVI input